Naboo Reactor Pit
The lights...they were so pretty! I'm talking about our new board, of course - the Naboo Reactor Pit! Ryan created a brilliant LED board to turn the playing surface different colors. Just like the setting in Episode I, the laser walls would turn on or off if a Dueler rolled a 2-ALL or a 5. And it created a lot of drama...TO THE RECAP!
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| The Inaugural Naboo Duelers |
The laser walls started up, and everyone tensely started drawing cards, expecting chaos. The first few times they turned on or off were anxiety-inducing, which was fantastic and expected. It was Miguel's Dooku, though, who got caught with the early attention. When the walls came down a host of folks near the reactor, led by Ian's Luke Skywalker, targeted the first Sith in the hallway. Just as things looked grim, though...the walls came on to protect him! That turn of events, however, hurt an unsuspecting Rylie, president of the Boba Fett Fan Club. Kaleb's Darth Maul was standing right next to her and was fully carded. He decided to unload on the bounty hunter! Rylie was stunned and left critically damaged. She fell to another attack from him a turn later. Ouch!!! Rylie might slash Rob's tires if she gets Boba again anytime soon.
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| We laugh so we don't cry... |
The walls were still up when the dust settled from Boba's exit, and Kaleb's Maul was left exposed across the open air of the reactor pit. Ryan's Chewbacca took advantage by unloading his Bowcaster for nine points of damage on the horned Sith. It was a big blow but Ryan assured Kaleb they were good moving forward.
Meanwhile, Curtis' Anakin Skywalker abandoned the hallway to join the reactor room folks. But his Padme got offed when Rob/Mace and Miguel/Dooku eliminated her. Rob managed a couple of attack-Wisdom combos to thin the reactor room minor characters, but they had the advantage for sure, and Rob used a Whirlwind on them that caught Miguel in the crossfire. It was an inglorious end for poor Dooku.
Alex's Jango was loyal to Rob's Mace the whole time, painfully discarding cards while the walls were up, but as he saw the reactor room moving forward against Mace he Rocket Retreated the heck on out of there, to hang out with Ryan's Han Solo. It would be attacks from Hannah's Yoda and Lucas' Emperor, though, that proved damning and Rob was out in a disappointing tenth.
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| Lucas had a good plan |
From there it was obvious the reactor room alliance wanted to march down the hallway and take out Emperor and Yoda. But the laser walls going up and down were hampering their movement, and the alliance got twitchy as they all became full carded with nobody to hit. Ian's Luke sensed he was on the chopping block, so he made a dramatic move to charge down the hallway, standing next to Lucas and Hannah. This confused the rest of the alliance, especially Curtis' Anakin. He rolled a five on his next turn and, in his stress, commented how he was in position to attack anybody on the board but not knowing who to go after. He settled on Ben's Darth Vader, expecting Kaleb/Maul to join suit. But his hemming and hawing didn't gain him any support, and instead, Maul attacked Ani! Several Duelers joined in, and by the time it got back to Ben, Curtis had no defense left, and Vader eliminated him with an All Too Easy in ninth.
By this point Duncan's Obi-Wan, who had partnered with Ian's Luke the whole game, joined the Skywalker twins near Yoda and Emperor. That's when Lucas suggested the four of them, along with Alex's Jango Fett, turn against Han/Ryan, Vader/Ben, and Maul/Kaleb. It looked like a good move, but Hannah wasn't feeling it and turned on the Emperor! Luke and Obi followed suit, and poor Lucas was eliminated in eighth.
Things got crazy after that. Obi used a Force Control to make a kill box around Yoda as well as Ryan's Han, which was a bit shocking. Kaleb's Maul was in on the attack of Ryan, so when it came to Ryan's turn, he attacked Maul but Maul used a Blinding Surge to absorb the damage but deliver three back to kill Han! But because it was Gambler's Luck, the dying Han still got to discard another card out of Kaleb's hand. We'd never seen that move before!
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| Post-Yoda kill box. |
With Han off the board that left Hannah's Yoda as the next target. The laser walls and superior defense of Yoda, though, made it tough sledding. Hannah eventually succumbed to a Latent Force attack from Leia to die in sixth. That's three Duels for Hannah, and she's finished top-six each time!
That left five to go - Ian/Luke, Alex/Jango, Duncan/Obi, Kaleb/Maul, and Ben/Vader. It was pretty clear Ian and Duncan were together, even though Ian hinted that was circumstantial more than anything else. The other three wanted Obi dead, but Ian couldn't support that. Instead, Vader became the focus of attack, especially after Ian pitched that to the injured Kaleb. It would be a five point attack from Maul that ended Ben's strong run in fifth place.
The final four! By this point Duncan had taken control of the board, and favored Jango's ouster. His Obi, though, took a number of hits from indirect damage from both Vader as well as a double Wrist Cable from Jango. Kaleb's Maul, also banged up, figured he and Obi could partner to take out Ian's healthy Luke, so he sided with Duncan to take down Alex's Jango. It was a Jedi Attack from Obi that ended Alex's run in fourth place.
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| Blood Red |
The final three featured both Kaleb and Ian pleading with Duncan's Obi to partner and eliminate the other. This was a long debate, highlighted by Kaleb's promise/threat to use two Blinding Surges on Obi, which would have him critically damaged should he attack. Ian, in turn, promised to use yet another I Will Not Fight You on Maul. Duncan got the best case scenario when his Obi was safe behind laser walls while Luke and Maul went at it. Maul smacked Luke around, but Luke won the day when he dropped a ten point Justice to kill Maul in the Naboo Reactor Pit, which is kind of meta when you think about it.
Luke was bleeding out, and Obi-Wan was loaded in defense cards, but instead of charging in to attack Luke, Duncan retreated down the hallway to play it safe and try to card and heal up. Though this stretched the Duel out, it proved to be a patient and justified tactic. Despite two more I Will Not Fight Yous, Duncan's Obi outlasted Luke and eliminated his real world boss with a pair of four attacks! Congrats Duncan! This was just the amateur Dueler's third Duel, but just like the movie, he left the Reactor Pit the victor!!!
12. Rylie/Boba Fett
11. Miguel/Count Dooku
10. Rob/Mace Windu
9. Curtis/Anakin Skywalker
8. Lucas/Emperor Palpatine
7. Ryan/Han Solo
6. Hannah/Yoda
5. Ben H./Darth Vader
4. Alex C./Jango Fett
3. Kaleb/Darth Maul
2. Ian/Luke Skywalker
1. Duncan/Obi-Wan Kenobi
My goodness, that new board was fun!!! And congrats again to Duncan - very, very few Duelers have ever won a Duel that early in their careers. You deserve that Dooku trophy hanging in your room!!!
Next month's Duel is Thanksdueling! The tentative plan is to play on the evening of Saturday, November 14th. We have yet another new board on tap, and this one is unlike anything we've seen before. It is our Thanksgiving-themed Duel, so here's a hint: GOBBLE GOBBLE!
Is that not enough of a hint? Ok, here's one more:
Stay tuned to your emails and our instagram account for more info soon!!!
